LIC stock surges after Q3 profit rises multi-fold to ₹6,334 cr

The shares of life insurance giant Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) surged in the opening trade on Friday after the domestic insurance behemoth reported a manifold rise in its October-December net profit at ₹6,334.19 crore on strong growth in the quarter. The stock opened higher at ₹629 and surged to its intra-day high of ₹639.90, before settling at ₹625.35 on the BSE.

At the current share price, LIC's market cap stands at ₹3,95,312.36 crore. The share price of LIC currently trades 32% lower than its all-time high of ₹920 touched on its market debut on May 17, 2022, while it is down 34.1% against its initial public offering (IPO) price of ₹949.

LIC’s net profit for Q3 surged manifold as compared to ₹234.91 crore profit during the corresponding quarter of the previous year. On a sequential basis, however, the life insurer's profit declined sharply by 60.29% from ₹15,952.49 crore in the September quarter.

Total premium income for the said quarter fell 15.38% on a sequential basis to ₹1,11,788 crore as compared to ₹1,32,104 crore in the year-ago period, while rose 14.5% from Rs 97,620 crore in the same quarter last year.

The total renewal premium for the period, however, surged 7.19% to ₹60,195 crore as compared to ₹56,156 crore in the quarter-ago period. The Assets Under Management (AUM) increased to ₹44,34,940 crore as of December 31, 2022, as compared to ₹40,12,172 crore on December 30, 2021, registering an increase of 10.54% year-on-year.

Individual new business premiums surged 5.12% to ₹14,293 crore on QoQ as compared to ₹13,597 crore in the previous quarter. Group business premium, however, saw a decline of 39.27% decline of ₹39,097 crore vs ₹64,373 crore in the quarter-ago period.

As of Q3 FY23, LIC's market share in terms of premium paid dipped 2.83% to 65.38% from 68.25% in the quarter-ago period. The net new margin, however, remained the same at 14.6% as of Q3 FY23.

“We continue to remain focussed on creating a portfolio mix to optimise value for all stakeholders, and in that context, increasing the proportion of Non-par business in a consistent and profitable manner. In the Individual business, on an APE basis, the share of Non-Par Business has increased to 9.45% for the nine months ended December 31st, 2022, as against 7.12% for the full year ended March 31st, 2022," says M.R. Kumar, chairperson, LIC.

He said the market is showing signs of robust growth, and that the company is confident of retaining and growing its market share going forward.

For the nine months ending December 31, 2022, LIC registered an increase of 20.65% in the total premium income at ₹3,42,244 crore as compared to ₹2,83,673 crore for the nine months ending December 31, 2021 during the previous year. The profit for the nine months ending December 31, 2022, stood at ₹22,970 crore as compared to ₹1,672 crore for the nine months ending December 31, 2021.

The increase in the current period profit was recorded due to the transfer of ₹19,941.60 crore, pertaining to the accretions on the available solvency margin, from non-par to shareholders account.

LIC says its business momentum continues to be strong, and as a result, the overall market share by first-year premium income was 65.38% for the nine months ended December 31, vs 61.40% in the year-ago period.